Have you had a chance to check it out? flash gordon #1 by Jeremy Adams, Will Conrad, Lee Loveridge and Tyler Esposito? A new series about the beloved classic space heroes is about to save the universe!
To celebrate the occasion, Comics Beat caught up with Adams and Conrad via email to learn more about the exciting new series underway. Read on to find out everything we found flash gordon #1!
AVERY KAPLAN: Can you tell us about any personal history that you might have? flash gordon?
Jeremy Adams: Well, like many children of the same age, I flash gordon movie starring Sam Jones. This campy/sci-fi movie with one of the best soundtracks ever was the first time I saw the character. It wasn’t until a few years later that some older friends recommended to me some old pulp science fiction novels, e.g. Jon Carter of Mars series, it piqued my interest in that time frame and characters.
Will Conrad: “Flash Gordon” is one of the books I read as a child and one of my first favorite science fiction stories. I loved – and still do – Alex RaymondThe art in the book, I can’t get over the 80’s movie and it has a great soundtrack.
KAPLAN: How did you get involved with the Mad Cave project?
Adams: When I was pitching some creator-owned projects at Mad Cave Mike Matz Mentioned that they had some great licensing material coming out soon. When he read the title, I heard a flash of light and immediately said, “I’d do that!” to which he said, “That’s awesome!” and off we went to compete.
Conrad: Marts, whom I had worked with, approached me and offered me several projects to work on at Mad Cave. One of the projects is flash gordon. I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with this character.
Kaplan: Do you have any personal creative rituals (especially those involving Queen)?
Adams: Ha ha. I usually have a routine. Walk the dog, drink Red Bull, play Fortnite, and then go to work! I always have a lot of projects and I am a firm believer in doing something every time. Progressive goal setting is a big thing for me. A little bit equals a lot of finished product over time.
Conrad: One of the things I do a lot is work with music. and Queen One of the bands I listen to the most, especially when I’m working flash gordon Page. You can imagine why.
KAPLAN: Has it happened before? flash gordon What stories particularly inspired you while working on this project? Any other stories or media out there?
Adams: Nothing stands out. I’ve been poring over Alex Raymond’s work and old comics, a lot. I work harder to advance ideas and characters and tell similar adventure stories with gripping endings.
Conrad: I can’t mention any story in particular because I loved the entire run. The ones that stand out in my mind are two films from the 1930s that I loved so much that I watched them several times while I was starting to write the book. I always tell stories as if I were directing a movie. So, I really love movies, and maybe that’s why I love movies so much.
Kaplan: What readers can expect from this incarnation flash gordon? Is there anything that might surprise them?
Adams: I think what’s surprising is that I didn’t really try to reinvent the character. I just used the character as-is to see what he would do in new and unusual situations. I think Flash’s character survives because of his heroism and courage, two things I really wouldn’t want to change.
Conrad: I was asked to give up some of the visual elements that were specific to the original material. But despite this, I tried my best to reproduce a lot of things faithfully. So I guess readers can expect to find lots of references to old stuff while delving into something completely new. I tried to bring back some of the old nostalgia while bringing a new light to some of the visuals.
Kaplan: It’s no secret that we’re animation fans at The Beat. So I want to ask: does your animation work have an impact on your comic work? If so, can you give us some specific examples?
Adams: Yes. For me, animation creation is closer to comic creation. I’ll be using lots of scene descriptions and wording to inspire and hopefully get the artist (storyboarded or otherwise) excited about what we’re seeing. Overall, I think the pacing of the animation is also very similar. I don’t have a lot of downtime in my books, and most of my animated work has the same feel. Specifically? Well…I know my writing is very cinematic in terms of angles, tilts, pans, etc. This is weird for static media, but people like Will or Xermanico on GL totally get it. I think we are all by-products of movies in a way.
Kaplan: Did you encounter any specific or unexpected narrative challenges when you started working on this project? On the other hand, is there anything that comes particularly easily?
Adams: Since this is an IP I don’t own, there are rules. Some of them are easy, some of them are hard, and some of them are just…well. But we’ve gotten through it all just fine. I think it was easier than I thought it would be to have this weird sense of being a silly sci-fi idea. Whether it’s fingers being syringes or monster guards, I find coming up with ridiculous technology more interesting than infuriating.
Kaplan: I’m also curious how your experience working on Monkey King might have impacted your work as a writer, if at all?
Adams: Complex issues. “Monkey King” was a serious test that made me a better writer and, of course, a better politician. There were a lot of strong personalities to deal with during my time on that show, and I hope I learned to let it go, focus on work, and try not to take it personally.
Kaplan: You’re no stranger to portraying iconic characters. What was it like developing the character design for it? flash gordon? How do you find the essence of each character?
Conrad: This is a challenge. Obviously, I wanted to stay as close to the original characters as possible, but also create new voices for most of the characters. Due to the demands of today’s world we have to stay away from some stereotypes and when working on new designs I was very careful not to lose the essence of each character. To me, this is no small thing.
Kaplan: I understand that you were an inker before you got into the industry, and then you got into pencils. Can you tell us a little bit about this personal journey?
Conrad: Yes. When I was trying to break into the industry, it was pointed out to me that my style was very different from what was being published at the time. I worked as an illustrator in Brazil for many years and my art style reflects this. But I was good enough to get some ink gigs. I did that and worked with some great artists on pencil samples for about 4 years. From there, I got my first small assignments, wrote some books in pencil, and then I started working on bigger and bigger projects. So far, it has been working in the US and European markets for 23 years.
KAPLAN: Are there any previous projects you’ve worked on that have been particularly useful to you? flash gordon?
Conrad: I think, if I have to mention one, it would be firefly The series I did for Dark Horse. I had the opportunity to work on a sci-fi set, and at the same time, a lot of the elements of the series have a very retro vibe to it.
Kaplan: Jeremy, do you have any thoughts you can share about Will’s contribution to the series?
Adams: Will is a perfect collaborator. I know that anything he does to the pages always benefits the story. I think he’s awesome. His art embodies not only the action but also the performance of the characters in a way that many artists fail to do. He’s got everything and I’m lucky that he’s doing that.
Kaplan: Do you have any thoughts you can share about Jeremy’s contribution to the series?
It was so much fun working with the way Jeremy writes. The way we collaborated gave me a lot of freedom to experiment with visual effects and some input to help the story develop. I loved the twists and turns and sometimes I found myself laughing at the pages because the script was so funny!
Kaplan: Is there anything I’ve overlooked that you’d like me to add?
Yes. Jeremy and I had a great time working together. I believe the team is very dedicated to making this a great project for readers new and old, and I hope everyone will enjoy the result of this effort.
you can collect Flash Gordon #1 Available now from the Mad Cave Studios website or your favorite local comic shop.
